Possible Plot: Fantastic Four

So here’s a Possible Plot that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four, but, I can say with confidence that their representation in films have been really lackluster. Hell, if I had the authority, I’d demand that Fox return the rights to Marvel. Why? Franchise abuse and neglect, that’s why. But, then again, I’d also demand that Fox and Marvel work out a deal so that the X-Men could be introduced into the Marvel Universe. Power abuse? Maybe. Would you love the results? You know you would.

Maybe, someday, you'll get a movie that's
on par with the rest of Marvel.

But back to the FF. For this version of the Fantastic Four, I’d say we do a complete 180 degrees from the original film. Make them the heroes that keep flying under the radar. Not because they haven’t been contributing to the Marvel Universe, but because they have had the bad luck of having all of their adventures happen at the same time as bigger Marvel events. The Fantastic Four are born when four people are bombarded by cosmic rays. Big deal, the Avengers just stopped an alien invasion. Super Scientists Reed Richards discovers the alternate dimension he dubs the Negative Zone. That’s cool, but Captain America just took down three helicarriers and revealed extreme corruption in SHIELD. Super scientist Reed Richards marries team mate Susan Storm? Shush, Iron Man’s house was blown up, and the president was kidnapped by the Mandarin. The FF meet and battle Namor and the forces of Atlantis? Ultron tried to drop an entire city onto the planet! Kind of hard to notice one when the other is going on, am I right? Present this as some newspaper articles or from brief news stories. Or Johnny complaining about how despite being "Fantastic" they're never noticed. Dealer's choice.

The film would take place in two locations, Latveria and the Negative Zone. Iron Man and SHIELD, along with the UN, are planning on using the extradimensional Negative Zone as a place to hold the various Super Criminals that have been popping up. They commission Reed to help design the facility, and plan on building the Earth side base of operations in Latveria. Why? They were the lowest bidder for the contract. We’d establish all of this with a video chat between two of the biggest geniuses of Marvel, Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Stark could make a few snarky comments about how he personally hates the Latverian leader, the Baron, and his scientific advisor, Victor von Doom. Reed could make a few cracks about Tony not liking anyone smarter than him, that sort of thing.

Once the Four land at the facility, they’d meet the Baron and Doom. The Baron would be your pretty standard foppish monarch, self-absorbed and too confident in his personal power. Doom, on the other hand, would be rather soft spoken, hardly making a comment. Until the Thing or Human Torch point out that he’s wearing a faux Iron Man suit. Doom would then get super angry and make claims about discovering the designs and how improved upon Tony’s “rusty suit.” They’d see glimpses of Latveria, from their “Ivory Tower,” and see how the police force seems to be mainly comprised of robotic soldiers. Reed would make a comment about how…dangerous an army of Doom Bots might be, but the Baron would laugh it off, and inform them that Doom’s robots cut crime by 90% in the year since they’ve been switched on. Doom would say something like, “I’m committed to peace,” before they get to the work site.

The Four and a team of engineers set up the portal to the Negative Zone, open the portal, and step through. The Negative Zone is a hellish, but beautiful alien location. Have a moment where we can all enjoy the beauty of this uncanny place. They set up a base camp, just in time to be attacked by a horde of alien insects. The creatures, lead by their war leader, Annihilus, were drawn to this planet in the Negative Zone by Reed and co punching holes in reality. Annihilus, being a xenophobic bug man, wishes to cross over to Earth, and raze our planet. A huge fight ensues, where the Four can show off their powers, and Doom can show that his comments about improving Tony’s suit weren’t a load of hot air.

The Four and Doom shut down the portal, and do their best to escape. They’re trapped in the Negative Zone with Annihilus, and need to think of a way to stop him before the villain can think of a way to active the portal, or worse, someone Earthside attempted a rescue mission. Have some character moments, Ben and Johnny relieving some stress by pranking each other, Sue and Reed having a few romantic moments, maybe have Johnny pick his Bro-in-law’s brain about the craziness of how Annihilus controls such a huge horde.

We need a Doom that you can believe
is capable of dooming the entire planet
for his own ends.

Cut over to one of the Fantastic Four finding Doom doing a Tarot Card reading. Doesn’t really matter which one, they’d all have something funny or insightful to say about seeing a super scientist fortune telling. Doom would then explain his background, how he grew up as a poor Romani in Latveria, how his father was a doctor and leader of his tribe, and how his mother was a mystic. Reading Tarot Cards, while inherently pointless, comforts Doom and reminds him of his late mother. The team and Doom would then reconvene, and discuss the enemy. Doom would point out that with every order Annihilus uttered, the staff would glow and then the bug people would react. They’d realize the staff, Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod, would be the key to his power and their best way to stop him.

The Four plus Doom would battle Annihilus and his army. The fighting would be fierce, but in the end, Reed and Doom would be able to rip the Rod from Annihilus’ hands. Doom would get his hands on it, and would almost immediately become drunk with power. He’d claim that the insect army would allow him to protect the world from its foes. No more Ultron’s, no more Loki’s, there would be one world, under Doom. The Four would then battle Doom, and during the fight, the Rod would explode in Doom’s face.

While he clutches his ruined face, Doom would shriek at Reed, calling him a fool, an idiot, and an arrogant SOB that just ruined the world’s best chance for peace. Reed would counter with the usual lines about how free will > peace, and then they’d return home. One the plane ride back to the US, they’d get a call from Tony, who’d inform them that not only was Doom pardoned for his crimes, but he’d been named Latveria’s diplomat to the UN. Shocked gasps, and then fade to black.

Back in the Baron’s castle, we’d see the Baron cleaning up a bloody mess. During said clean up, the skin of his face would tear, revealing metal. Doom would then comment that the new Baron would need a few upgrades. Doom would travel down into the depths of the castle, into an old library. He’d reveal a secret passage behind a bookshelf. He’d make veiled threats to the empty room, “A fool am I? I will be smarter next time,” that sort of thing. He’d pull out a musty old trunk and open it. He’d pull out various books, Secrets of Sorcery, Magic for Novices, and finally, the personal grimoire of Cynthia von Doom. The film would end with Doom’s newly scarred face smiling as he says, “Time to study up.”

Pretty much the entire Negative Zone
has a pest problem.

In my head, this is a very in medias res story. Much of the Fantastic Four’s history and interpersonal relationships would already be established. Ben and Johnny would have their strange sibling-like rivalry, Sue and Reed would already be romantically entangled, and so on. Why? Because in my limited experience with the FF, I do understand a big part of their story is that they are a super team second, and a family first. We don’t need to waste time with the “getting to know you” phase that both FF movies before have focused on. We can also skip over the “Cure Ben” story, as by this point the Thing would be more or less content with his altered form. What can I say? I hate repeating stories.

I’d want the Negative Zone as the location for this tale, because, like the Fantastic Four themselves, it hasn’t been given fair treatment in the movies. Planet Zero, my hairy face. It’s also an important part of the Marvel Universe, which is inherently tied to the FF. Annihilus works as villain, as he’s been rarely used in Marvel projects, and his whole army of insects does make him a pretty serious threat. Possibly comparable to Doom himself.

Doom would have as nearly as big a focus the Fantastic Four. This movie would be more his origin story than the FF’s. We’d establish him as a technological genius, and as an unstable sociopath. And, in this way, we’d completely remove that stupid misconception that Doom’s powers are the result of the same accident as the FF. He’s not a mutant, he’s a magic scientist, get it right. This is a bare bones sort of plot, and there are several improvements that could be made to the overall structure. I honestly can’t tell you who the “main” focus of the film would be. You know how team movies go, even if the majority of characters get equal screen time, there’s always the one guy who stands out the most. In X-Men, it’s Wolverine. In Avengers, it’s Iron-Man. In the eventual Justice League, I’m going to call it right now and say Batman. Of the four, it might be interesting to see Sue as the primary character. Really, in all the movies to date, she’s had the smallest role and shortest arc. Fantastic Four she was just trying to get Reed to stop being such an egghead and notice her. In Rise of the Silver Surfer she was mostly concerned about her wedding. Way to keep things in perspective, guys. World could be destroyed, and she’s upset that they have to delay the wedding. I honestly can’t say what her arc was in Fant4stic, she really didn’t have an arc. She was just kind of there. Sure, she found Reed towards the end of the movie, but otherwise, she was just there to talk to Johnny and Reed. That was silly. All of that being said, I think this could be a good way to introduce these characters into the main Marvel Canon without having to jump through a whole lot of hoops to fit them in. I won’t be truly happy until Marvel’s cinematic universe is whole. I’d prefer getting the X-Men introduced in first, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time, let’s talk about Annihilus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four#/media/File:FF509.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Doomcosmicpower.jpg

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Possible Plots: Black Widow

Time for another new segment. Well, not a new segment, just one I haven’t done in a while. Remember my Wolverine Legacy post from about a year ago? No? Then read it and come back. … Caught up? Great. For those who still haven’t read it, that post and this one are dedicated to creating a possible story for a future film to follow. I have a new name for this series of posts, Possible Plots. I’ll save these for whenever I need to really stretch my writing muscles. Or if I get a really crazy awesome idea. Like with today’s focus, Black Widow.

Scarlett Johansson has proven to be
an amazing Black Widow.

You know, I do find it pretty weird that Marvel and Disney seem so reluctant to make a superhero movie centered on a woman. We’re talking about Marvel, a company that has tried (especially in the last few years) to expand the cast of female superheroes (Captain Marvel, New Thor, Ms. Marvel, X-23 for a few examples) and Disney, a company that owes a huge amount of its success to the Princess movies targeted at females. Not to say men don’t enjoy Frozen, Cinderella, Tangled, and the rest, but yeah, the movies do seem to be geared towards the ladies. Sure, they do have Captain Marvel on the schedule, but that’s not until 2018 and as much as I enjoy Captain Carol Danvers, she’s not the one that so many fans are all but demanding to see. Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, is the one that many a Marvel fan says needs a feature film of her own. Here’s my take on a possible plot for a Black Widow film. The same rules apply as for my “Doing it Better” segments, things like licensing, time, budget and so on don’t matter, it’s all about making an excellent flic. Let’s get to it.

Some background, I fit this film in sometime after Captain America 3. The Superhero Civil War has ended, and while stuff is getting back to normal, other things are still recovering. Particularly the friendship between Captain America and Iron-Man. Yes, I expect Captain America to survive the Civil War. Why? Because I love Cap, that’s why. While the main men of Marvel are still feuding, Black Widow is given an assignment by Nick Fury. Fury has been keeping an eye on things in the criminal underworld and has noticed a few disturbing trends. 1.) Several assassinations of important men and women in the global community, we’ll say an ambassador from Wakanda, a high ranking Stark Industries scientist, and a SHIELD agent. There can be more, but those would be the highlights. 2.) A mass brake out from the secret prison, the Vault. We’re talking HYDRA Agents, the surviving members of AIM from Iron-Man 3, the scientists on the Iron Monger project from the original Iron-Man, and Justin Hammer from Iron-Man 2. And 3.) An increase in HYDRA activity worldwide. If you’re asking why I’m assuming HYDRA is still a thing in the Marvel Movie Universe, that Nick Fury knows about it, and is letting them still be at thing, I do have a few reasons. HYDRA is a spy organization, which by definition is hard to permanently remove. They’ve had decades to set up facilities while SHIELD has been largely unware of their activities. And, think about the character of Nick Fury, would he be the sort to A.) Try to destroy HYDRA knowing full well they’ll just go underground and appear at a later date, or B.) Let them remain active while monitoring their activates? Yeah, I thought so.

The other Hawkeye. Both good with a bow
And both rock the Purple. What's not to like?

More disturbing, the aforementioned assassinations bear a striking resemblance to Black Widow’s style of killing back when she was an agent of the Red Room. Rather than assume Ms. Romanov is doing some killing on the side, Fury assumes another Widow might be active. For those who might not know, I’m talking about the second Black Widow, Yelena Belova. I’ll go into more detail in a later post, but basically she’s an evil Black Widow. Cue flashback to Natasha and Yelena being trained in the Red Room. I’m thinking something psychologically damaging, like watching failing students being poisoned so the other students can see the effects. Messed up, right? Back to the main plot, Black Widow’s mission, if she chooses to accept it, is to infiltrate the known HYDRA base and figure out what the heck is going on. She accepts, obviously, but she’s going to need a little back up. While braking into a facility is a cake walk for Black Widow by this point, Fury thinks that a little cover is necessary, given how dangerous a potential threat this whole thing could be. But, who? Captain America, Iron-Man, Hulk and Thor are all a little too flashy for undercover work. The only viable option from the original team is Hawkeye, but he’s either retired or on sabbatical after the events of Age of Ultron. There’s only one option, adding a new character. But who? For me, the clear choice is none other than Hawkeye… The other one.

Nick Fury introduces Black Widow to Kate Bishop, a new SHIELD Special Agent. Kate does a crazy impossible trick shot with a bow and arrows before Fury makes the comment that “She’s partial to the codename Hawkeye.” I imagine Widow smirking and making a crack like, “We’ll see if she’s up to it.” So, yeah, we’re going to avoid the “hate the new guy” cliché for this one. While I doubt that Black Widow would be 100% on board with a “new” Hawkeye, the character I’ve been presented with in previous films strikes me as someone who’d try something new before deciding she hates it. Which is exactly what she does. Black Widow and probation Hawkeye sneak in to the HYDRA base and use that magic face mesh from Winter Soldier (Not everyone forgot about that Deus Ex)  to pose as HYDRA new recruits. We get to see some of HYDRA’s “training” methods, and by that I mean things they do to ensure that their soldiers and scientists are loyal. It’s an evil pseudo-Nazi group, I can’t imagine every single person working for them is doing it willingly. Heck, I’d hazard a guess that more than half would need some brainwashing before they’d be willing to click their boots together and shout “Hail HYDRA.” I’m thinking things that border on insane torture like sleep deprivation, chemical treatments, and such to make them compliant. Another Flashback to Black Widow’s training in the Red Room, and maybe an offhand remark about “The more things change” before they continue.

Yelena Belova, the other Black Widow.
I seem to be seeing a lot of "others"
in this one.

They scope out the place over a few days, bonding and seeing the depravities of HYDRA, before slipping into the HYDRA Facility's computer database. We see our two superheroes disable…let’s say five guards and two techs before getting to work. While skimming through files, Black Widow learns that the various baddies of the Marvel Verse have created their own most wanted list of the various heroes. We could see guys like the Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Black Panther as “Possible Problems;” Black Widow, War Machine, and Hawkeye as “Known Problems;” and Hulk and Thor as “Major Problems.” She’d then note that Captain America and Iron-Man are both listed as “Removal Pending.” Also, if Captain America 3 doesn’t tie up the loose end, Black Widow should also note a file marked “Possible Winter Soldier locations” which she downloads with the other bad guy info. Just before Yelena arrives. The two Widows will duke it out while Probie Hawkeye is told to run with the Data. Some crazy fighting goes down, but both our super spies get captured and brought before HYDRA’s current leader, Arnim Zola.

Dr. Zola would then explain how he survived the bombing of his old computer body back in Winter Soldier. I’m thinking something like “Did you really think a man of my genius would remained locked in a bunker for decades? No, what you and the Captain destroyed was my original form, the first attempt at Arnim Zola’s immortality. This,” gestures at his purple and orange robot body with his face displayed on the torso, “is the new and improved Arnim Zola. The Immortal Master of HYDRA!” Or something similar. He gives one of the usual BS reasons why he didn’t kill the two spies, I’m split between “Wanting to watch them suffer” and “Wanting to use them in a creepy experiment.” Black Widow does her crazy interrogation powers (as seen in her discussion with Loki in The Avengers) to figure out Zola’s plan before she and Probie Hawkeye make their daring escape.

Now, you’re probably asking yourself what is the fiendish master plan here. What could HYDRA do to take out both Captain America and Iron-Man? I think you’re going to love this. Using the combined scientific insight of all the evil eggheads I mentioned earlier, HYDRA, AIM and Justin Hammer have devised their own stealthy ARC reactor and Repulsor. Their design barely gives off any light, and the Repulsor itself can flip up into the sleeve of who’s ever wearing it. Their plan, Yelena gets in close using HYDRA’s version of the face changing mesh to pose as Natasha. She disables Tony with some sort of powerful, mind bending toxin, just as her team starts tampering with the cameras. Its AIM and HYDRA, I’m sure together these two could even overcome Tony’s extensive security protocols. Yelena then takes on Tony’s appearance and invites Cap to the Avenger’s tower to talk. Once he arrives, Yelena would then attack, using the element of surprise and years of close quarters’ combat training to remove Cap’s shield and force him near a window, then use the stealth Repulsor to defenestrate him. You’ve seen Avengers Tower, right? Ridiculously high up, no close buildings, and no way to maneuver in the air. Yeah, Even Captain America would have trouble surviving the drop. It’s then a simple matter of quickly putting the stealth Repulsor on Tony, run off with the Shield, and the job is done. Cap dead, Iron-Man implicated in the murder, everyone is pretty bummed, and HYDRA now has their hands on Vibranium. Brilliantly crazy plan, eh?

Not sure if this is more or less creepy
than a green Toby Jones face
on a computer screen...

Of course, Black Widow and Probie Hawkeye arrive just in time to stop said Captain defenestrating, we see another crazy Black Widow vs. Black Widow kung fu fight, and our heroes ultimately save the day. Yelena is put into SHIELD custody, Kate Bishop is acknowledged as the new Hawkeye, Black Widow makes a crack about “always cleaning up after you boys” and all is well. And maybe one last flashback to Black Widow verses original Hawkeye back in the day, to when he convinces her to join SHIELD. Just to tie up that lose end.

So there you have it, my plot for a Black Widow film. Is it perfect? Hardly, but it’s a start. I included Kate Bishop to expand the overall pool of female superheroes in the Marvel Movie Universe, and as a way to set up a Young Avengers (the team Kate is affiliated with) movie somewhere down the line. Furthermore, it Clint Bartlet has hung up his quiver for good, it’s important to set up a replacement. There always needs to be a Hawkeye, much like there always needs to be a Captain America. It’s an important role. Yelena as the evil Black Widow and the final antagonist of the plot just feels right, as it gives us an excuse to see more of Natasha’s past as part of the Red Room, and also a glimpse into what she might have become had she not joined SHIELD. I included Arnim Zola as pretty much a place holder. He’s the only bigwig of HYDRA that I could think up that could technically still be alive despite his apparent death in Captain America 2. We could perhaps replace him for Viper, another bigwig of HYDRA, but that might be putting too many new characters in. Plus, Zola’s role in this story idea is pretty minor, so it might be best to leave him in and save Viper for another film.

Black Widow is an interesting character, one that I could totally see having a major motion picture of her own someday. This movie idea, I think, serves as a decent in medias res story of how Black Widow came to be the character she is today, and how that character is important to the overarching Marvel Universe. While guys like Iron-Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk are perfectly capable of being in the spot light and saving the day, we will always need a character willing to hunt in the shadows. Which I think Black Widow is comfortable with. Next time, Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, Marvel’s resident spellcaster’s first film appearance. 

 http://marvel-movies.wikia.com/wiki/File:BlackWidow_Avengers1.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkeye_%28Kate_Bishop%29#/media/File:Katebishop.png

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Yelena_Belova_%28Earth-616%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/File:Arnim_Zola_%28Earth-616%29.PNG

The Wolverine Legacy

           This post, while largely self-contained, is the first of a segment that I’d like to call ‘Doing It Better.’ In these particular posts I’ll be sharing with you different strategies, story lines, and what not that I feel could be used to either retroactively make a superhero movie better, or in this case do it right the first time.

                As the title suggests this is about the Wolverine branch of the X-men franchise, one that sadly may be replacing its leading man in the not too distant future. While I’ll be sad to see Hugh Jackman go, before he does I hope they can get one more movie out of him. And if the somehow I can get the Generalissimo’s, Stan Lee’s, attention with this post I have the perfect send off for Jackman’s Wolverine.

                The idea for the film is only in the most basic of stages in my head but it would focus on the Legacy of Wolverine, i.e. the children he’s fathered over his 100+ lifespan. These would include Daken his hateful son born sometime after Wolverine visited Japan in the 1940’s, nice tie in to the last Wolverine I think, the Mongrels a mercenary team made up of five of Wolverine’s other children who’s personal goal is to make their father’s life a living hell, and Laura Kinney, aka X23 aka Talon, Wolverine’s female clone.

                The story would start outside Yuriko’s mansion in Japan at the dead of night. We’d see in dark shots several people moving about and killing the house staff by various means. The montage of death would end outside of Yuriko’s room. She’d sit up, see a silhouette similar to Wolverine’s standing in the doorway. She would call out to him, just before noticing his claws were drawn, one of which was coming not from his knuckles but his wrist. The figure would scoff before saying, “Not quiet,” and lunging at her.

                Wolverine would hear about what happens somehow, perhaps through Xavier mentioning that there were several mutant signatures converging on a home in Japan, and travel there to find the ruins of Yuriko’s mansion and the police still sifting through the wreckage.

                Vowing revenge Wolverine hunts across Japan for the killers, meets X-23 along the way and the two bond, kills the five Mongrels via decapitation before coming face to face with Daken, and learning the truth about the Mongrels. They will fight, all the while Daken taunting Wolverine about all the lives his immortality has ruined, all the broken families left on the wayside, and how much Daken enjoyed killing the half-siblings that refused to join him.

                Daken will get the upper hand and reveal to Wolverine the origin of X-23 and some twisted plan he has concocted for her. I’m thinking something along the lines of turning her into the perfect assassin so he might fight and kill her so he could be considered the greatest of Wolverine’s heirs.

                Wolverine kills Daken also via decapitation and takes X-23 back with him to the Xavier Institute in the hope that he can make up for all his past wrongs with her.

                Certain elements would differ from the comic book stories, obviously with the mixing of three different story arcs together. One of the most glaring of which would be putting Daken in charge of the Mongrels. Another would be making X-23 younger in this version, more like her X-men Evolution counterpart then the main comic continuity. Daken’s sadism would be cranked up to the absolute limit and most of what makes him sympathetic would be removed. I would like to see the two “children” to be mirrors, one an example of Logan’s failures as a father, and the other the untapped, untested potential of one that hasn’t been so heavily scared.

                Like I said, very basic story at the moment but I think something along these lines would be necessary both to close out a Wolverine “trilogy” and to say goodbye to Hugh Jackman’s version of the character. If you like some of my ideas, spread the word, let’s see if this could be made into something BIG.

http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel//universe3zx/images/thumb/d/d4/Wolverine%28Daken%29.jpg/200px-Wolverine%28Daken%29.jpg

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http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/azazel-and-nightcrawler-vs-wolverine-and-daken-616694/

http://www.comicvine.com/x-23/4005-3560/forums/a-sad-story-621758/